8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Jul 1987)

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Yol. 25, No. 5

56th Field Artillery Command

July 1987

USAREUR. Comm1nder, Gen. G

lenn

K. Otis h1ng1 the Superior Unit Aw1rd 1tr11mer

on

the Comm1nd Colors H the Com1n1nd8f

of the

56th Fl1ld Artillery Comm1n

d

BG Raymond E Hlddock, end the former Chief of Stall of the Germen Army. Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Meinhard Ol1nz look on. An AFN tellvl1lon crew wH on hend to

re

cord

the hl1torlc event which

took

piece

on July 1.

(Photo

by

Randy Yecklet)

Disci Jline

and performance aised

uperior unit awarded

by John K. D'Amato

NCOlC Public Affairs

The Superior Unit Award

was

prtsent«l

10 the S6th

Field

Artillery Command (Per•

shing) by USAREUR Commander, Gen.

Glenn K. Olis, in a ceremony

he

ld on the

Comm and parado ground >t Hardt Kuerne,

July I in Schw:Obisch GmUnd.

The

Superior Unit A •ard was given in

recog

nition of the long hours, hard work

and personal sacri

fi

ce of thousands of Per

shing soldiers durinc tho years 1983 throu~h

1986.

During those

y ors

Pershing ,oldicrs

were challenged with the mission of fielding

the Pershinx II missile synem. They

w

8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Jul 1987)

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Pershing able

July 987

Training

uper troops make their mark

The S6th Field Anillery Brigade (Pershing), consisting

of

Headquarters a.nd Headquaners Battery; 1st B,ttalion, 41

st

Fidd Artillery; lsc Battali

on,

81st Field AniUery; ld Batta·

lion, 84th Field Anmery; 2d Battalion,

4ch

Infantry;

55ch

M•incenance B•tt•lion; and

chc

266ch Chemical Detach

ment (Deconmnination), performed with great distinction

during the period November

1983 to

Dccembcr 1985 by

succcufuUy fielding the Pershing II weapon sysccm.

The fielding

of

the Pershing II played a

vita.I

role in fur

thering che national interests of the United Smes of Amer

ic. and in strengthening the NATO AUianec.

The fielding of the Pershing II w u accomplished in spite

of unprecen.dcntcd challenges faced by the Brigade and its

soldiers. The 56th Field Anillery Brigade (Pmhing)

mec

chese and other challenges he•d-

on

and accomp~shcd ,Jl

deployment milesconcs on schedule.

The first Pershing II missiles arrived in the Bri~ade on 27

November 1983 ond

che

fielding got underw•y 1n eameSt.

On 1 S December 1983 che first Pmhing II battery (Batt

ery A, lsr B•ttali

on,

41st Field Artillery) became operatio

nal.

The complete integmion

of

the first Pershing II banery

into brigade operations wu accomplished in ihon order

despite a mvriad of challenges. From the time of receiving

the Pershing II musiles in December 1983 until April 1984

Battery

A

1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery underwent

four tesu under the Army Training and Evaluation Prog•

nm.

The unit wts tlso evaluated

on

four sep•me occ.sions

by Nude.r Weapons Technical Inspectors (NWT ) under

Nucl-ear Surety Inspection (NS ) cmeria.

In addition to challenges faced by any unit involved with

fielding a new system, Battery A was faced with severe ad

vcrs~ weather conditions, with up to

rwo

feet

of snow

on

che ground •nd extremely cold temperatures, throughout

its field

mining .

Addi,ionally, demonstutor activity throughout this pt ·

riod required the unit 10 perform deuiled coordination

with supportinghost nation police agencies far beyond that

requiredof other units. Battery A faced every ch•llenge and

began performanly its musion on schedule.

Fielding of the new Pershing II missile followed in the

rem,in.ing ,hree firing batteries of the

In

B,ualion, 41st

Field Artillery. The focus of training shifted from indivi

du,J battery operations

to

integrated battalion Pershing II

operations.

As banaJion exercises increased so too did

dc:monst

ator

activity. Convoys were routinely di,ruptcd by the demon

strators who threw objects .such a,s .,crow's feet" under vc•

hides in tn •ttempt to d:unage tires.

The first Pershing II battalion fielding and training exer

cises were co

nd

ucted in a •g

old

fish

bowl atmosphtrc

with the attention of the highest levels focused on the bat

talion.

The intense training by the 1st Battalion, 41st Field Ar

tillery culminated in a battalion

level

NATO Tactical Eva

luation in September 1984. Bec•use of the high level int